


It Hurts to Remember

by Someone_aka_Me



Series: in a world that could've left us hard as metal [4]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, M/M, POV Second Person, lots of pain
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-19
Updated: 2014-08-19
Packaged: 2018-02-13 19:16:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 693
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2162010
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Someone_aka_Me/pseuds/Someone_aka_Me
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Percy is out with his family in Diagon Alley when he comes face to face with his past.</p>
            </blockquote>





	It Hurts to Remember

**Author's Note:**

  * For [MissingMommy](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MissingMommy/gifts).



Diagon Alley is crowded as you weave through the shops, Audrey's hand gripped tightly in your left, Molly's in your right, and Lucy hanging on to Audrey's other hand. Molly is chattering on about getting her wand, understandably excited, and you find yourself distracted by her enthusiasm for too long. You take your eyes off the space in front of you for only a moment, but that is long enough to run headlong into another shopper.

You turn to him, an apology on your lips, but your voice goes dry as you get a good look at his face. God, he still looks just the same.

You feel the tips of your ears go that awful shade of red and you are ashamed at how easily he still affects you, all these years later. You watch surprise and then something aching flicker through his brown eyes as he recognises you.

"Percy." His voice is a low note that you remember all too well. You cough, trying to clear the awkwardness from your throat.

"Hi, Oliver."

A beat of stilted silence passes, and then Audrey squeezes your hand and you startle, looking away from him at last. "Oh, sorry, sorry. Um. Oliver, this is… is, my, uh, my wife. Audrey." You're stuttering, which you don't normally do, but you aren't really sure how to introduce the ex-boyfriend you still sort of love to the family that you love just as much, if differently. "And my girls, Molly—" Molly curtsies "—and Lucy." Lucy ducks behind her mother's legs, and Oliver grins, dipping down to rest on his heels, putting himself at Lucy's height.

"I don't bite," he says easily. "No need to be scared." Lucy scowls darkly.

"I know that!" she proclaims. "I'm not scared." And to prove it, she marches straight up to him and sticks her hand out. Oliver shakes it solemnly.

"Good," he says. "Because I make it my goal not to be scary."

You can't help the smile, watching him, but you know when he looks up that you haven't quite hidden how much it hurts, either.

"Perce…" he says softly. You shake your head.

He nods, but then he says, "Do you think we could meet sometime, for coffee or something? Catch up? I miss you." And you can tell by the look on his face that he hadn't meant for that last sentence to escape.

You miss him, too, but you can't exactly say that, because he would know how much you mean it and you really don't need your life to be that much more complicated right now.

"Maybe," you say, but Oliver knows you. He knows when your maybes mean maybe and when they mean not a snowball's chance, and you can see that he recognises this as the latter.

And you can see in his eyes the moment something breaks, and it causes an echoing crack inside of you and you want, so badly, to just take it back. Because hurting him has never been your intention. You loved him, you _still do_ ; it's just different now. Because you have Audrey and Molly and Lucy and you love them more than you knew was possible and this is your family now.

You regret hurting him but you do not regret loving her, and the two are one and the same. It is an irreconcilable paradox.

"It was… It was good to see you again, Percy," he says, slowly and softly.

You nod, and even the motion is stuttered. "You too."

His nod is a quick jerk, and his walk is tight and stiff as he walks away. You watch him go, hoping how much the brief encounter aches doesn't show on your face.

"Who was that?" Audrey asks.

"Oliver Wood. Best Keeper Puddlemere ever had."

"…darling, I meant who was he _to you_."

You close your eyes, exhale deeply. "He was the best friend I ever had," you tell her, because it is the truth, even if it is not the whole truth.

But Audrey knows you all too well. "Then why did you refuse him?"

You breathe deeply again. "Because sometimes, it hurts to remember."


End file.
